Surprise Egg-sack! (In need of advice)

Luke · Jan 25, 2015

Hey all! So back in December I "saved" an adult Haplopelma lividum from abysmal conditions at a local Petco. Well 3 days ago she decided to suprise me with a cottonball-sized egg sack! So even though I am super stoked about this, I have no idea how to handle a situation like this. I have decided to just leave her alone for now and keep temps between 75 and 80F...I have been told elsewhere that I should wait 30 days before trying to pull the sack out, but also that I could leave it in there with her full term...(Thoughts on what would be best?)...

I also do not know if this is even a good sack...it looks like it has "filled out" a little more in the past few days but I don't know if thats just because she has been moving it around or not.. I also candled it and it looked really yellow inside...(also not sure what that means exactly)...haha

Any advice on this would be great! Here are some pics of the sack:

Day 1 (Probably 1 hour after she made it):

Day 3:

Thanks in advance everybody!

Lucas

Tfisher · Jan 26, 2015

Looks like a sac

with this species as far as I can tell 30 days is the usual, however if you want to pull sooner and set up an incubator that's always and option. I like to pull early (lol) to reduce the chance of bacteria or the chance that she may eat it.

I like to give the good news first. There is a chance that this could be a phantom sac but with the yellow color does not ensure the eggs are any good. I hope it works well for you and lemme know when you got some babies!!

---------- Post added 01-26-2015 at 10:40 AM ----------

Also do you have a good pic of the T before she laid the sac?

Luke · Jan 26, 2015

Awesome! Thanks for the advice! Now as far as pulling the sack....Should i dig up the whole jar she is in or try to fish it out of her existing burrow? I'll post some pics of her too she has lost a lot of size in her abdomen after she made the sack but wasn't HUGE or obviously gravid when I got her...

---------- Post added 01-26-2015 at 04:18 PM ----------

blue by lucas.basulto, on Flickr

Poec54 · Jan 26, 2015

Luke said:
Awesome! Thanks for the advice! Now as far as pulling the sack....Should i dig up the whole jar she is in or try to fish it out of her existing burrow? I'll post some pics of her too she has lost a lot of size in her abdomen after she made the sack but wasn't HUGE or obviously gravid when I got her...

---------- Post added 01-26-2015 at 04:18 PM ----------

blue by lucas.basulto, on Flickr

Don't worry about that now. Let her hold it, and roll it for 30 days. You can pull it then, if she hasn't eaten or discarded it in the meantime.

14pokies · Jan 27, 2015

I've never bred haplos but its comments like poecs that make me wonder why more people don't artificially incubate there sacs..
I wonder if the Germans let there females keep the sac?
If its an import it could be a good sac if its cb its most likely a phantom sac.
Either way I wouldn't leave it in a moist cage with a high strung mother...
I would wait a week and pull the sac.. There are many methods of incubating an eggs sac..search the forums,Google it and YouTube it and then repost some more specific questions on the methods you see if you decide to go that route..
If you leave the sac with her stop candleing it...don't move the enclosure for photos or anything else.. Make sure the t is in a room that is high 70s low 80...haplos are nervous spiders everything you do to reduce stress, increases the likely hood of the sacs survival.

Kelly Brown · Jan 27, 2015

30 days is fine with lividums but just a heads up this species is known for making phantom sacs i have had 2 different females make multiple phantoms over the years.

Poec54 · Jan 27, 2015

14pokies said:
I've never bred haplos but its comments like poecs that make me wonder why more people don't artificially incubate there sacs..
I wonder if the Germans let there females keep the sac?
If its an import it could be a good sac if its cb its most likely a phantom sac.
Either way I wouldn't leave it in a moist cage with a high strung mother.

Females don't eat sacs for lack of something better to do. A species' survival revolves around producing viable eggs and having them go full term. They eat/discard sacs because it: 1) wasn't fertilized, 2) is entirely bad and decaying, and 3) is partially bad and decaying. They can smell it decomposing. Sometimes there's some eggs/slings inside you can save, sometimes there isn't. The best care a sac will get is from the female, even in this case.

---------- Post added 01-27-2015 at 06:12 AM ----------

Kelly Brown said:
30 days is fine with lividums but just a heads up this species is known for making phantom sacs i have had 2 different females make multiple phantoms over the years.

Chilobrachys are another genus that tend to lay phantom sacs.

-=}GA']['OR{=- · Jan 27, 2015

Poec54 said:
Females don't eat sacs for lack of something better to do. A species' survival revolves around producing viable eggs and having them go full term. They eat/discard sacs because it: 1) wasn't fertilized, 2) is entirely bad and decaying, and 3) is partially bad and decaying. They can smell it decomposing. Sometimes there's some eggs/slings inside you can save, sometimes there isn't. The best care a sac will get is from the female, even in this case.

---------- Post added 01-27-2015 at 06:12 AM ----------

Chilobrachys are another genus that tend to lay phantom sacs.

Exactly, I always leave the sack with the female until the 30 day mark. Some species I let the female carry until term. The only ones I've pulled were rarely propagated species like Xenesthis, Pamphobeteus, Encyocratella, and the like. I also will pull species that produce tons of offspring like Brachypelma, Lasiodora, etc.

Like Poec said the female is not going to destroy the eggsack unless she senses something wrong. The way I look at it is why would we want to guess on the proper rotation of the eggsack, when the female will do it for you. They are good mothers and know instinctively what is best for the young.

Add Psalmopoeus to the list for dropping phantom egg sacks.

IHeartTs · Jan 27, 2015

Poec54 said:
Females don't eat sacs for lack of something better to do. A species' survival revolves around producing viable eggs and having them go full term. They eat/discard sacs because it: 1) wasn't fertilized, 2) is entirely bad and decaying, and 3) is partially bad and decaying. They can smell it decomposing. Sometimes there's some eggs/slings inside you can save, sometimes there isn't. The best care a sac will get is from the female, even in this case.

---------- Post added 01-27-2015 at 06:12 AM ----------

Chilobrachys are another genus that tend to lay phantom sacs.

Don't p irminia do this often too? I'm pretty sure mine is holding eggs and a friend of mine just had a phantom sac from hers.

Poec54 · Jan 28, 2015

IHeartTs said:
Don't p irminia do this often too? I'm pretty sure mine is holding eggs and a friend of mine just had a phantom sac from hers.

Yes, I had an irminia, under 4", lay a phantom sac. I hate to see them go thru the ordeal for nothing, but evidently in the wild they must almost always mate, so producing eggs in advance works out.

IHeartTs · Jan 28, 2015

Poec54 said:
Yes, I had an irminia, under 4", lay a phantom sac. I hate to see them go thru the ordeal for nothing, but evidently in the wild they must almost always mate, so producing eggs in advance works out.

Weirdo spiders. She won't even eat now. I'm just waiting and waiting. I feel bad that she has to carry and try to maneuver that big ol butt of hers

Surprise Egg-sack! (In need of advice)

Luke

Arachnosquire

Tfisher

Arachno-Geek

Luke

Arachnosquire

Poec54

Arachnoemperor

14pokies

Arachnoprince

Kelly Brown

Arachnopeon

Poec54

Arachnoemperor

-=}GA']['OR{=-

Arachnoknight

IHeartTs

Arachnobaron

Poec54

Arachnoemperor

IHeartTs

Arachnobaron